The Eggcellent Easter
by onekisstotakewithmex
Summary: It's Easter, a time of rebirth and hope for new things. And among the Easter celebrations of Kate's crazy family, Gibbs finds exactly the rebirth he was looking for, all because of a longing glance and a pair of bunny ears. Featuring the entire Todd family, Kibbs and established!Kibbs. Part 6 of "With You, Every Day is a Holiday"/ Christmas verse


Gibbs was woken up on Easter Sunday when he was unceremoniously dumped on the floor by his girlfriend.

"Ah!" He crashed to the ground, and lay there for a second, praying silently that no one- not one of the small children currently in the house- would decide to investigate, and find him half-dressed in a heap on the floor.

He was going to shout at said girlfriend, but then he heard muffled giggling from under the bedsheets. He stood up slowly, his muscles protesting at such a rude awakening, and he glared at the vaguely Kate-shaped lump in his bed, crawling back in beside her. "If ya do that, I'm not giving you your Easter present."

"You didn't buy me an Easter present." Her voice was sleepy, and he buried his face in her hair, smelling roses and coffee.

"Well we'll never know now, huh?"

She rolled over, so that they were practically nose to nose, and smiled at him, "Good morning."

"You shoved me out of bed."

"I thought you were an intruder."

"This is _my_ bed." He was offended.

"My mother would be scandalized if she came upstairs, on a Sunday, and found her daughter at the disadvantage of an older man. Regardless of whose bed it is." She was close to laughing again, and he rolled his eyes.

"How about we stay here today?" he stroked her hair. "Lock the bedroom door…"

"Gibbs." She was laughing. "We can't. That's a luxury we can't afford. And a sin, on Easter Sunday."

He considered for a second. "Rename it Sinday," he declared, before leaning in and kissing her.

She pulled away, "We're going to be late for breakfast."

He grabbed her around the waist as she tried to get out of bed, "Guess you'll miss out on somethin' sweet."

"And what about you?" she teased.

He bit at the edge of her ear, grinning as she squealed. "I've got all the somethin' sweet I need right here."

"Flirt." She finally succeeded in escaping his grasp. She dropped the quilt and moved across to the bathroom door. She turned back, "Gibbs, you have five minutes to put on actual pants, and then I'm leaving."

"You are _no_ fun, Katie." He pouted for a second, and then swung himself out of bed.

"Deal with it!" she called from the bathroom.

He rolled his eyes, and reached under the bed, for where he'd discarded his pants the night before, tugging them on with reluctance.

Breakfast… church… the Easter egg hunt… Easter dinner… It was all just a bit too much to handle in one day, and it made him glad that he had missed the baptism.

As if to remind him he was missing out on his uncle duties, a loud shriek of laughter came downstairs. _The twins._ He headed for the door, and opened it just in time to be tacked by Elle and Laura.

"Daddy says you need to come for breakfast right now, or he's giving your food to the dog." Elle said seriously.

He grinned and ruffled her hair. "You don't have a dog."

"So?" Laura bounced up and down.

He kneeled down and looked her in the eye, "Laura, have you been into the chocolate already?"

"No, Uncle Gibbs. We have a present for you! C'mon!" Laura tugged at him, and he turned.

"Kate! I'm going downstairs!"

"Okay!" She called back through the bathroom door, and he let himself be pulled down the stairs by the excitable four-year-olds.

Once downstairs, Mike shuffled over and handed him a plate.

"Your leg botherin' ya, Mike?" he asked.

Mike nodded. "Pain comes and goes. Right now it's coming."

"Soon enough, kid, it'll be going," Andrew said, walking in, dressed in a suit.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow, staring at him. "You look good, sir."

Andrew rolled his eyes, "How many damn times do I have to tell you, Gibbs, it's Drew. I don't bite."

Daniel walked in and grinned, "Your daughter does."

Gibbs choked on his coffee, and Andrew faked a gag.

"Daniel Edwin Todd!" Rosalie caught the tail end of the conversation. Mike threw a dish cloth at his brother, and Dan picked up an Easter egg, chucking it back at his brother.

Gibbs laughed, and they all stopped to stare. "Edwin?" he asked.

Daniel stuck out his tongue at his mother's back, and crossed his arms, looking remarkably childish for someone turning thirty-two in a few months. He then sighed, "Yep. Edwin. Better than Jethro."

Gibbs crossed his eyes at him.

"Uncle Gibbs," Elle reprimanded. "That's not nice."

Laura handed him the bag containing his present, and he stared at it suspiciously, looking at the twins with narrowed eyes. They were sweet, sure, but of course, there was no doubt they'd inherited their aunt's mischievous streak.

He opened the bag, just as Kate walked in, only to find a pair of bunny ears. Sighing, he put them on.

Kate and Daniel both started laughing as Mike sniggered into his apron. Even Andrew wasn't immune, the corner of his lip twitching. Daniel pulled his camera from his pocket, and snapped a quick picture of Gibbs sitting there. There was something oddly funny about a stoic grey-haired Marine wearing fluffy pink and purple bunny ears.

As Kate walked past, grabbing a coffee mug off the counter, she leaned in and whispered, "Can I borrow those later?"

He muttered back, ignoring that her family was in the kitchen, "Only if that's all you're wearin'."

It was Kate's turn to choke on her coffee, and she headslapped him. "Pig."

"Ya like it," he retorted, grabbing a napkin off the counter and dabbing the coffee on her chin.

They turned to see Dan and Mike staring at them. Mike wrinkled his nose. "You two act more married than most married couples I knew."

Kate jumped away from him so fast he could have sworn he was carrying the plague.

"Is that you monkeying around in there?" came the demand from the doorway. It was Edie's turn to walk in, carrying Noelle, who was wearing something hideously frilly.

"Edith, what have you dressed my child in?" Dan was horrified. "There's more frill than baby!"

"Your child?" Edith asked. "Did you spend twelve hours giving birth to her? Because that isn't how I remember it."

John looked up from his newspaper. "Nope, but he spent twelve minutes creating her." Mike high-fived him.

Kate rolled her eyes, and turned to Gibbs, "See, this is what this house was like when it was full of teenagers."

John cleared his throat, "Mercifully, I missed most of those years."

Edie walked over, "Gibbs, I think it's time you held your niece again."

"Aw, Edie, I don't-." He didn't get to protest, because the baby, frills and all, was passed to him. Noelle looked up at him with wide brown eyes, looking shockingly like her namesake. "Hey there, sweetheart," he let her grab his finger and smiled down at her. She had a few wisps of blonde hair sticking up from her head, making her look like- "Who's a cute little Tweety Bird?"

When he looked up, he saw Kate was watching him, a funny look on her face. She realized he was looking back, and set down her coffee, avoiding his gaze. She stood, "I should go. Uh. Finish. Getting ready."

She walked out of the kitchen. Gibbs stared after her, mystified, wanting to chase after her. But he didn't want to incur the wrath of Edie, so settled instead for holding his niece, staring down at her with all the hope of a new parent.

 **XNCISX**

The spring sunshine was warm on the back of his neck, as he sat on the porch, watching Kate helping with the Easter egg hunt. The air was filled with the smell of flowers, and the shrieks of laughter from the kids. Kate's hair was coming out of its carefully tied braid, hanging in wisps around her face, and she was tramping around the backyard in flannel and jeans, big rubber boots on her feet.

She was beautiful.

She turned and waved at him, grinning, before Elle tugged her off in the direction of the trees. Only a few months ago, he had stood in this backyard working up the courage to tell her how he felt. It had taken a few near-death experiences and cliché Christmas moments to get to where they were.

And where were they now?

He grabbed a chocolate bunny from its hiding place under the chair he was sitting on, pulled out his knife, and cut the head off.

"What're you doing there, soldier?"

He cursed, the knife slipping and cutting his finger in surprise.

"That's a bad word." She sat down next to him, as he stuck his thumb in his mouth, still muttering curse words under his breath.

"Sue me." He pulled his thumb out and examined it.

"Want me to patch that up?"

"Only if ya tell me what was botherin' ya this morning."

"What?"

"You," he pointed the knife at her, "were watching me this morning. Holding Noelle."

"So? She's my niece. It's not illegal to look."

"You were looking at me."

"That's mighty self-centered. Not everything is about you, Jethro." She rolled her eyes.

"Kate, stop avoidin' it. What's up with ya?"

"Gibbs, it's just-."

"Auntie Kate!" Walter ran over, "Laura stole one of my Easter eggs!"

"I did not, you _liar_!"

"Did too!"

"Okay, okay!" Kate kissed Gibbs on the cheek, before jumping up. "Enough arguing. Whose name is on it?"

Walt shrugged. "I can't read."

"You're in second grade, you can too!" Laura crossed her arms.

He handed it over, " _you_ read it then you big meanie."

She blinked at it. "I can't read."

Kate groaned, and grabbed the egg, "It actually says Elle, so it doesn't belong to either of you! Who labelled these eggs anyway? They need a stern talking-to."

"Daddy did." Walter shrugged.

Kate rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath about how _John expected too much of a bunch of small children, and really, how old did they think they were? Not everyone was a boy wonder_ … Still grumbling, she headed back into the house, the screen door slamming behind her.

Gibbs was left to sit on the porch, staring out at the field of children, and think. He had to get Kate alone where there weren't any small children to interrupt… and not just to have his way with her. He and Katie needed to have a little chat.

 **XNCISX**

Dinner passed without incident, mercifully. Gibbs hadn't been sure what to expect with a big family dinner, surrounded completely by Kate's family watching his every move. Even after a few months, Rosalie still side-eyed him whenever she had the chance to.

He was mostly above it all. Mostly.

He found Kate sitting on the back porch swing. He could hear the crickets chirping, but she seemed to not notice anything, so zoned out was she. She was staring out across the backyard, the sky vibrant with stars.

"Mind if I join ya?" he asked, gesturing beside her. She was rocking the swing gently with her foot.

"Sure."

"Aren't ya cold out here?"

"A little. But it's okay. It's spring."

He wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Yep."

He could sense she was hesitant about something, so reached down and took her hand in his, their linked hands resting on her thigh. And then, "Gibbs?"

"Yeah, Katie?"

"I'm sorry. For being weird this morning. I should explain."

"Nah. I was wrong. Ya don't owe me an explanation Katie, don't owe me anythin' in fact."

"But I do. I need to explain. Gibbs, you know that I love you."

"Yeah. I love you too."

"And I'm really really happy. Even if you can be a bastard, and I know I'm not perfect-."

"Katie." He cut off her rambling.

"I try not to think about what comes next."

"Next?"

"Yeah."

"You mean…" He thought for a second. "The future?"

"I saw you this morning, holding a baby… and my brain jumped six steps ahead of me."

"You were picturin' a future. There's no shame in it, Katie."

"It's just-," the words poured out. "I know it hasn't been very long, but you mean a lot to me, Jethro, and I can't imagine not waking up to you, and I know that it's hopeless to dream because you've been married four times and lost a child, but this morning, I realized that you looked so perfect with a child in your arms, and that I would definitely want to have children with you, because I really really love you."

He listened, and blinked, turning towards her. "Katie?" he asked, his voice shaking suddenly from emotion. "Are you saying… Ya want… a future with me?"

"I know it's crazy, and too soon-,"

"No." He cut her off. "It's not a proposal Katie, but a someday. Somedays are good. They're somethin' to hope for. And I can't picture building my future with anyone but you."

She kissed him in response, and he pulled her into his lap, as they swung back and forth on the rusty porch swing. Breathlessly, pulling away, she said finally. "Meet me upstairs."

She took off, leaving him very confused, and slightly emotional. She had called him _Jethro,_ which she only did when she spoke seriously of their future.

 _Their_ future.

He wiped his eyes on his sleeve, very much hoping that he was doing the right thing. And then he followed her upstairs.

He found her in their bedroom (officially his but she snuck in under Rosalie's nose, and it had lost its awkwardness after the first morning waking in her arms), and his jaw dropped.

She was wearing nothing but his bunny ears. And a tail.

"Jesus, Katie."

"That is the point of the holiday."

He walked over and pulled her into another kiss, "Remind me to thank him for giving me you."

She grinned at him, before asking conversationally, "Have you ever heard the term _screwing like bunnies?"_

He couldn't help chuckling. "I think you need to teach it to me again."

Easter was a time of new beginnings. Of rebirth. And it was the time of the kind of rebirth Gibbs had felt when Kate had confessed to wanting a future with him.

Rebirth indeed.


End file.
